Chapter 2

2.

It seemed that in my husband’s heart, his wife and his unborn child were far less important than his old flame’s son, whose father was a mystery.

My baby never even got a chance to see the world.

Tears streamed down my face, not from heartbreak, but from a pure, boiling rage.

Olivia walked into my room. Her arm was bandaged and her face was pale, but she raised a hand to gently pat my shoulder.

“It’s okay, Chloe. I’m here,” she said, her voice hoarse.

The fire had also cost Olivia her own baby, just two months along. The pain she was carrying was no different from mine.

I thought of our husbands, those two men whose minds were filled with nothing but Kendall and that boy, Jack, and I managed a bitter smile.

“Oli, we thought marrying into the Hayes family was a fairytale come true. Now we’re the laughingstock of Brooklyn.” Painful memories flooded back, and my throat tightened. “It’s all my fault. I dragged you into this.”

Olivia shook her head, reaching out to wipe away my tears. “Don’t say that. It’s not too late to get out together. We’re going to be okay.”

I nodded fiercely.

Just then, the door to my room was thrown open violently.

Olivia’s husband, Lachlan, stormed in with a dark expression. He grabbed her and dragged her into the hallway, treating her not like a patient who had just escaped a fire, but like an inconvenience.

I tried to get up, but my body was weak.

Before the door closed, Olivia mouthed “I’m okay” to me.

Soon, I could hear Lachlan’s hushed, angry voice from the hallway.

“Who told you to call 911? Wasting emergency resources got me a chewing out from my captain. It’s going to affect my annual evaluation. Do you have any idea how important that is for my career?”

“Olivia, don’t think I don’t know what happened with my brother’s fire. It was just a little stunt you two pulled to get our attention, wasn’t it? Now you’ve made a mess, and we’re the ones who have to clean it up.”

“And another thing, Chloe is emotionally unstable because she’s pregnant and wants a divorce. Why aren’t you talking her out of it? Instead, you’re playing along with her. Stop it, Olivia. There’s a limit to this crap.”

Faced with Lachlan’s barrage of accusations, Olivia’s voice was unnervingly calm.

“It’s not just Chloe who wants a divorce. I do too. Lachlan, Chloe and I both lost our babies.”

Lachlan was silent for a few seconds, then let out a cold, mocking laugh. “Wow, best friends to the end. You even rehearsed your lines together. Pregnant? I’m always careful. How could you be pregnant? And Chloe loves my brother so much, she’d never―”

His phone rang, cutting him off. He glanced at the caller ID, and his tone changed instantly.

“It’s about Jack? Okay, I’m on my way.”

He turned back to Olivia and snapped, “I’m going to give Jack a fire safety demonstration. Stop this nonsense!”

When Olivia came back into the room, her eyes were even redder.

The pathetic state we were in was a world away from the blissful moment on the steps of City Hall, arm in arm, when we had both said, “I do.”